Meat cooker and shaper



Oct'.1'28, 1,930.- R.- E. JORDAN MEAT cooKER AND sHAPER Filed May 5. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 28, 1930.

R; E; JORDAN MEAT COOKER AND SHAPER Filed May s. 1922 2 Smets-sheet 2 Patented Oct.v 28, 1930 ROBERT nJoRDAN, or' CHICAGO,

mENwFm-.-

ILLINOIS, AssIGNoR, BYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, mo

,THEALLBRIGI-IT-NELL CO., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS' MEAT Yoooxnn 'AND' SHAPR j Apncation mea may 3, i922. 'serial no; 558,258. y'

` My invention relates to meat-cookers and shapers, andv more particularly'to Ya device for cooking and forming a tapering piece of uncooked boneless meat into a cooked piece of' substantially uniform size, texture and quality' if throughout. `This application is a smallest portionthereof. The butt end is made up of meatof fine texture and good quality, while theV shankLend isy made up of meatof course texture vand relatively poor quality, and contains aconsiderable .proportion of gristle. y .g

`It is a purpose of thefinvention to provide a method for making a cooked ham from said tapering piece of-meat, which is substantially uniform in cross section throughout and which is of substantially uniform quality and Vtexture throughout. APreferably the Vcross section is rectangular whereby a great saving of meat is obtained iii the making of sandwiches.l

In order to accomplish the Vpurposes outlined above, a new and improved form of ham retainer is provided which. serves both as a container forthe harm-while thesame is being'cooked and a mold for shaping the ham prior to andduring the cooking operation. y Ham boilers or. molds of various kinds have'been previously'used and these are of two general jvtypes, that is, they are completely closed on all sides vor are open on Athe 4.0 ends. -My improved meat cooker and shaper is'of the closed type,` as a mold that'does not completely enclose the ham is very objectionable in thatv the ,water in which'the hamris boiled can enter the meat, lthus not only'making the flavor of the meat inferior but also being unsanitary* Itis also impossible, 'inv a mold that is open at the ends, to obtain the desired compressionof the meat so as to cause the flowing of theparts thereof thatl are'rofsuperior quality longitudinallyl of the piece V gether from end to end thereof.

into juxtaposition to the'meat-kof'inferior quality so as to produce a piece of substantially uniform quality throughout. While molds closed at the ends and-'sides' have been previouslyjused, the pressure' to which the meat is subjected in said moldscannotfbe made sufficiently great to obtain the'desired flowing'l of the meat due to the' fact that springs vare .dependent upon for obtaining y this pressure. Furthermore, thesemolds" are not iiuid tight, nor substantially fluid tight, and accordingly do not retainthe juicesof the meat and consequently` do not retain `'the flavor which themeat h'asvdue tvofthefcuring thereof.

ameat cooker-and shaperfwhichV is provided with fixed rigid side andjend walls, a rigid bottomand a rigidr cover, and means whereby the cover isadapted to closethecontainer so" as Ato Vmake fthe same fluid tight `whereby t is a purpose of theinvention toY provide Y the above mentioned objections areovercome.

`Preferably this container or mold is of substantially uniform cross sectiontliroughout and rectangular, that is, preferably the bottom, the sides, the end'wallsand-the top are madeplane faced and aresubstantiallyfat right angles to each other.r By providing a closed rigid container that is fluid tight in applyinggthe necessary pressure, the jellies in the-meat are retained and serve to `bind the piece of meat together in itscompressed form withthefbetter partsV adjacent the linferior parts thereof so as to form a piece of cooked `meat of substantially uniform. lquality and texture throughout, which is firmly knit to- The pressure necessary toobta-in the desired flowing of the meat is comparatively greatV and is ,preferably applied by means of a suitable steam or compressedair `'press exerting a pressure of not less than 6() lbs. per square inch, 'the best results being obtained with av pressure of substantially lbs. per square inch.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will appear asl the descriptionof the accompanying drawings proceeds. However, I desire to have it distinctly understood that I do not intend to'limit myself to the exact details shown or described but that I intend to include as part of my invention all such obvious changes and modifications of parts as would occur to a person skilled in this art and as would fall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved ham cooker and shaper partly broken away showing the head of a press applied thereto;

F ig. 2 is a pla-n view of the device shown in Fig. 1, a portion thereof being broken-away;

Fig. 3 is an end View thereof partly broken away; and

. Fig. fl is an enlarged detail view showing the improved rack and pawl construction .whereby the cover is adapted to be automatically held in meat compressing position.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the improved meat cooker and sharper comprises a container having a plane flat bottom 5, straight substantially plane faced side walls 6, extending substantially at right angles to the bott-01115, the corners between the bottom and sides being preferably slightly rounded as shown at y7, Vand straight end walls 8 which are plane faced, and which extend substantially at right angles to the bottom 5 and the sides 6. The corners at the junction of the bottom and end walls are preferably slightly rounded as indicated at 9 and the corners at the junction of the sides 6 and the ends 8 are preferably slightly rounded as indicated at l0. This rounding is preferably only sulficient to make it easy to remove the meat from the corners of the mold as a sharp corner would tend to make the meat stick in the corners of the mold so as to make removal thereof diliicult. The bottom 5, the sides 6 and the ends 8 are all fixed and are made of sufficient thickness and of such material as to be substantially rigid. A rigid cover mem- `ber 11 is also provided, said cover member being made of such shape as to conform to the inner surface of the mold, the corners thereof beingroundedas indicated at 12 to conform to the rounding' of the corners 1() so as to provide a snug fit at the corners as well as at the sides and ends, said cover 11 being rigid1 forms together with the body portion, a subi stantially rigid closed container adapted to receive the meat that is to be cooked. The edges of the cover 11 are down turned as indicated at 13 and are preferably thinned so as to form flexible depending flanges which are adapted-to'spread laterally 'so as to engage with 'the side and end walls of the body portion to provide a. fluid ytight fit between the cover and the body portion when the head 14 mounted on the rod 15 forces the same downwardly toward the bottom with a piece of uncooked boneless meat between the cover and the bottom. In order to hold the cover men ber in such a position as to compress the meat within the device, a pair of angular plates is provided, each of which has a portion 16 eX- tending parallel to the cover and riveted thereto, and a portion 17 extending at right angles theretol and substantially parallel to the ends 8 of the mold. The legs 17 of the angular members are provided with ears 18 which are riveted thereto or securedthereto in any other desired manner, having perforations through which the pivot pins 19 extend upon which the pawls 2O are pivotally mounted. Said pawls 20 are provided witlielongated shank portions 21 and with teeth 22 which are tapered as clearly shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. el, and whichareprovided with an engaging face which extends at an acute angle to the shank 21. Eachof the teeth 22 is adapted to engage with teeth 23 provided on the members 24C which are secured in any suitable manner, such as by riveting to the ends 8 of the con-l tainer. The teeth 23 are provided with inclined faces 25 and faces'26 which are only slightly inclined to the perpendicular so as to form ratchet teeth, the outer edges of which are substantially in alignment withthe pivot pins 19. rlhus the teeth 22 on the pawls 2() will engage with the teeth 23 on the racks pro-vided on the container, automatically, due te the action of gravity, asthe elongated hooks with the teeth thereon will tend to be thrown into engagement withtlie ratchet teeth il dueto the action of gravity, `the long inclined faces 27 of the teeth 22 sliding over .the in clined faces 25 ofthe teeth 23 upondownward ymovementof the cover relative to the body portion, but the holding faces 28 of the hooks 22 engaging with the only slightly inclined faces 28 of the teeth 23 to fhold said cover from movement away from said bottom when the pressure applied by means of the head 14 is removed therefrom. In order to strengthen the container at the upperfree edge portion thereof and reinforce the same, a rein forcing band 29 is yprovided. which extends around said upper edge portion on both sides and ends thereof from one ofthe `plates 24 to the other plate 24 on the `opposite end.

In use the ham, which is as is well known provided with a wide end, knownl as the butt end, and a narrow end known as the shank 'endv's Pressed in fhebody bortion of the con- "il" tainer, and -thefcontainer is of such size that the wider portion of the ham will be of greater width than the width of the mold and the narrower portion is of less width than the width ofthe mold. The skin of the ham may be removed or may be 4secured with a few stitches or merely by tying a string around the same depending upon the custom followed by the packer who is using the mold. These strings, however, are not used for holding the meat together, but merely for hold` ing the skin in place, as the skin does not very readily adhere to the other parts of the `ham due to the fact that it is comparatively lllil .lili

The press practically applies the pressure. with a hammerblow making'the operation4 very rapid. As the lid of the cover travels downwardly toward the bottom, the teeth on the pawls ride over the ratchet teeth until the pressure is relieved, when, due to the compression of the meat, there is an upward p ull on the lid'causing they pawls to engage?V with the ratchet teeth rmly so as to prevent movement of the cover away from .the bottom of the mold. Due to the fact that'the lid lits tightly on the body portion of the mold, because the downwardly extending flanges thereon are forced outward against the sides of the mold by the pressure within the same, the mold is' sealed substantially liquid tight as long as the pressure exists'therein which is produced due to the compression of the meat. The mold is then placed in a vat or tank of boiling water for a sufficient length `of time to cook the same.

It will be noted that due to the fact that there are no springs, cross bars, or other pro-l jecting parts on the mold, the same can be very readily stacked in close formation in the vat, this being especially due to the fact that they are rectangular in outline and have very few projecting parts, and these parts being sov narrow that said molds can be easily stacked crosswise on top of the rst layer and then the layers alternated throughout the depth of the vat. As the mold is sealed'liquid tight it will be evident that the contents of the mold cannot escape and the water within which the ham is boiled cannot enter into the mold. All of the juices of the meat are consequently retained and a superior iiavor results. Due to the pressure used and due to the relative shape of the mold and the piece of meat, a portion of the meat at the butt end thereof which is of superior quality, will be forced lengthwise ofthe piece toward the portion thereof which is of inferior quality, thus producing a piece of meat in which the slices thereof are of substantially thesaine quality throughout. i The meat at the wide end beingv of better texture than at the narrow end, the pressure also will cause the texture Having thus described my invention, what Y I desire to claim and secure by U. S. Letters Patent is: A i l. rlhe methodfof converting a tapering piece of uncooked boneless meat into a cooked piece ofsubstantially the'same-cross section throughout, comprising the placing of said container of substantially uniform cross section from end to end thereof, said container being of smaller dimensions than the greatest dimensionsof saidpiece and of greater dimensions than the smaller'portions 4of said piece to force the excess of said meat to fiow vlongitudinallyYof saidpiece into the corners of said container, sealing saidcontainer substantially liquid tioht, rigidlyholding said meat compressed in contact with substantial# ly the entire inner surface of said container, and cooking said meat while compressed in said sealed container.

2. A device for Vcooking and shaping boneuncooked piece of meat into a closed rigid seY less meat, comprising a container' having a rigid bottom, rigid, fixed side and lend wells, a rigid cover member, and means for substantially rigidly holding'said cover memherrin adjusted position, said cover member having depending flexible flanges at Vall the edges thereof, for sealing said container when said cover is forced towardwsaid bottom. 3. The method ofV forming a substantially .solid knit together piece of cooked meat of substantially uniform cross section and quality throughout the length Vthereof from a tapering piece of uncooked meat having superior and inferior portions and a bone cavity, comprising pressing of said uncooked piece into a container of substantially uniform sizveunder suflicient pressure to cause some of the meat of the larger portion of superior quality to iiow lengthwise of said piece intoV ajuxta-position to the inferior portions thereof, sealing said container substantially liquid tight, holding said mea-t under said pressure, and cookingsaid meat Lwhile held sealed under said pressure, where- Aby the juices and jellies in said meat are retained and serve to Vknit said meat together Vto form a Ysubstantially solid piece from end to end thereof.4 j y In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 1st day of May, A. D., 1922.

ROBERT E. JORDAN.

ofthe meat to be made substantially uniform because of the flowing of the meat explained above. As the mold is vsealed liquid tight, the

jellies in the meat do not escape as would be the case where a container that is not completely closed were used, and this jelly in forming in the mold knits the meat firmly together so as to form a substantially solid piece without cracks therein from end to end of the piece of meat. 

